Calvary, Glory and Lutherans

In today’s Christian music industry every other song is “Glory.” The reason for this is the theology of glory and in contrast is our theology of the cross. It is a stark difference that very few people see or understand.


Recently I was at a Calvary chapel church and like most of them it was a large theater style with nothing on the walls. It had a large screen, soft chairs and a large stage. There were no pictures, banners or anything that would designate it as a church much less a “sanctuary.” Then I came to my church and we are filled with pictures, banners, crosses, altars etc.


Later that month we were talking about different theologies in our men’s group and one gentleman talked about how in the reformed church they see God in each other and not in the trappings of the church. It dawned on me how the building reflects not only the ministry but the theology as well.


The idea of the theology of glory is in line with the non-denominational/Baptist view. Jesus is in heaven and we glorify him in our actions. It is the people of God who glorify God as if we actually have something he needs. We see this many times in scripture that we glorify God, but what is missing is the premise behind these words.


Before I explain this aspect let me first outline one critical difference. If you go to any Nondenominational type web page you will find a description of belief. In that they will say that man is born with natural sin. That man is sinful and unclean. Then they say man must accept Jesus as his personal savior. The question we don’t ask, is if I am sinful by nature, where do I get the knowledge and the will to accept anything? The reality is that we don’t and what our world is being taught is wrong and against scripture. We should be glad God accepts us Gal 4:9. In scripture, where the Non-Denominationals say we receive Christ or accept him as our personal savior Jn. 1:11(read to 13), it clearly is referring to welcoming him and his word. It is coming to us, like a ball thrown. The people were not letting the message in. The message was given, they were rejecting it. Nowhere in scripture does it support “inviting” Jesus in. We merely need to catch it not invite it to be thrown. This premise puts us on uneven playing field to begin with. I Cor. 12:3, Romans 12:3, Eph. 2:8 and many more.


Therefore, with this premise in mind how can we glorify anything? How arrogant. God does not accept glory from men, John 5:41. The word “praise” in Jn. 5:41 as used in most bibles is “doxy” which is the Greek word for glory, i.e. doxology. We can easily connect this to another premise by John in 3:27 in that a “man can receive “NOTHING” unless it is given him by heaven.” This is clearly outlined in John 1:32 and explained further in Romans 2:29; the Holy Spirit works in us to glorify God. It is God who glorifies himself through his spirit as HE works in man.


Why is this so important? Consider how the Non-D. church people speak. The day “I” accepted Jesus. What are “you” doing. Their sanctuaries are empty of icons because the new icon is them. They worship each other! It is the heart of idolatry, self actualization and humanism. In the Lutheran world, we rally at the cross. On the cross our sins are laid bare and Christ lifts us up and uses us in spite of ourselves. It gives us hope that we are not the answers to our salvation. We all fall short Rom 3:22-23, but God in his love comes to us as sinners, not as glorified saints, Romans 5:8, for it does not depend on a man’s effort or desire Romans 9:16, but on God’s mercy. It is all about Jesus, not about the day we accepted God. This is the greatest insult we can give to God and is from the heart and mouth of Satan as Satan wanted to be God, it makes us like God. We have nothing to offer God. Even if we take a self aware attitude about this, what would God want from us he doesn’t all ready have? If glorification was his goal then why take Jesus into heaven. The world could marvel at his greatness as he roamed the earth. We have icons in our church so that every where we turn we see something that reminds us of Jesus. Our communion is not about our faith, but Gods’ action. Our baptism is not about our faith, but God’s action. Our life is not about our “Crowns of Glory that we get in heaven,” but God’s action. Sadly most Lutherans don’t know what we believe nor understand. Casting Crowns sings against this in the song, “Stain Glass Masquerade.” How ignorant they are not to understand! And why should they, they may be wrong, but we are dead in our faith! Our music writers have long faded and all we have to sing with a beat is what the Non-d. church produces and we hope we all understand that when we glorify God, it is He that is glorifying Himself through us in Himself. Anything outside of this is idolatry, arrogance and humanism. Give me the cross and save my soul, because I will always fall short of the glory of God!


As always there is SOOOO much more and so many more verses to support our long and rich theological history. For more information respond to my blog or just join our church and learn the truth.